Reflections of Evil
by TheatreGirl81
Summary: The seemingly endless struggle between Kitana and Mileena starting with their first meeting.
1. Chapter 1

Princess Kitana finished brushing her long hair and stretched. It had been a long day and she was eager to strip out of her clothes and get some much needed sleep. As the daughter of the Emperor of Outworld it was Kitana's duty to keep her skills sharp; she was her father's chief assassin after all.

There was not much that could break the princess' veneer, she was strong, deadly and beautiful and nothing could make her emotions show. The last time any hint of emotion had flooded her had been when her mother, Queen Sindel, had died. But she had been a child and the grief acceptable.

The princess changed into her sleeping robe and turned to glance at herself one more time in her full length mirror. She could admit to being a little vain. Hell, her beauty aided her in her work. But what she saw made her blood run cold.

Her reflection stared back at her, but the image was twisted. The brown eyes were cold and dead. The apparition sneered at the princess and her smile revealed rows of sharp teeth, much like the Tarkatan warriors.

Kitana's hands flew to her face, feeling her flawless skin.

"You are beautiful now," the apparition hissed. "But I will make you like me. I will destroy you and then I will be the pretty queen on the throne. This is what you will become… a hideous rotting corpse unloved and shunned."

A weapon came flying out of the mirror and Kitana dodged out of the way. Something metal struck her brick wall and the princess fled into the hallway.

"Guards!" she called. "Guards!"

Two armed men came running into the corridor.

"What happened, Princess?" the younger of the two asked.

"There was a woman in my room; a woman looked just like me only she was deformed. She tried to kill me."

The guards exchanged looks.

"Well what are you waiting for?" Kitana hissed. "Go in there and make sure she is gone. I want to know how an assassin got into my room."

The guards entered the princess' chamber and she followed. She waited by the door while they searched. They dutifully checked everywhere, but could find nothing. The glass of the mirror was in tact and the windows were all locked.

"There is nothing here, Princess," the young guard said. "No signs of an assailant."

"She was there, in the mirror," Kitana told them. "She threw a knife at me."

"Perhaps it was a dream," the older guard offered. "Just a nightmare."

"I have no nightmares," Kitana replied darkly.

"We can stand watch outside your room," the older man said.

"Just go away," the princess said. "I will deal with this in the morning. My father…"

"Princess," the older man said. "begging your pardon, but do you really want to trouble the Emperor with a children's ghost story?"

"Get out." The Princess' words held no argument.

* * *

"What do we do?" the younger guard asked. "Do you really think she'll tell the Emperor?"

His commanding officer pulled a sai out of his belt and examined it. "I'm not sure, but this does not bode well for any of us. We have to search the castle and find Shang Tsung's abomination before we all get executed for allowing it to break out and run free."


	2. Chapter 2

Kitana awoke to shouting outside of her room. A woman and a man were having a heated debate. Throwing her legs over the side of the bed, the princess brushed off her drowsiness, put on a robe, and went for the door.

"What is going on out here?"

Maxis, the head guard who had come to her aid last night, stood in the hallway with Jade. The Princess' bodyguard looked incensed.

"Jade?"

"I'm glad to see you're alright, Princess," she said as she learned on her staff. "No thanks to Maxis and Wei."

Maxis bristled. "We searched the Princess' room and there was nothing there. What more do you want from us?"

"I want to know where this came from." Jade pulled a sai from her belt, lunged at Maxis, and pinned him to the wall.

"That was the weapon the creature had," Kitana said.

"I was patrolling last night when I heard commotion," the female ninja said. "Guards talking about an escape and an attack on Kitana. I stole this weapon right off your belt and used it to gut Wei."

Maxis was stricken. "I'll see you dead for that murder, woman."

"Why wasn't the Emperor told about Shang Tsungs actions? Why are the emperors guards following that magician and condoning his disgusting experiments?"

"What experiments?" Kitana asked. "What has that man done now?"

"Tell her," Jade persisted. "Tell her and I will end you quickly." She pushed the point of the sai into the guard's throat.

"I'm not some green guard who bends to threats. Kill me and see where that gets you."

"Kill him with the stranger's weapon," Kitana said. "Then she will be blamed for it."

"I'll end this," Jade said. "You go get dressed so we can figure out what is going on."

Kitana nodded and went back into her room. Moments later she heard the last sounds of a dying man. Once she was properly attired the princess stepped into the hall. Jade was bloody. She sheathed the sai and retrieved her staff.

"Careful not to get his blood on your boots," Jade said. "Come, I need to go to my quarters so I can change. Damn it, I liked this outfit too."


	3. Chapter 3

"Damn you, woman," the sorcerer cursed. "You cannot roam free in this palace, the Emperor has forbidden it."

The woman cocked her head. "Then what am to do? Sit around doing nothing while there is another woman who bares my face? Why does she have a pretty face?"

Shang Tsung coughed. "She is your sister, Mileena. But she has turned away from the Emperor. She has proven to be a disrespectful child and you… Shao Khan has given you life so that you may take over and be an obedient heir. So you must train and hone your skills…"

"I like to fight," Mileena offered, a glint in her eye. "I like blood."

"You must curb that hunger," Shang Tsung told her. "You must learn politics and how to run a realm if you are to take Kitana's place."

"I hate that stuff," she hissed. "It bores me to no end. I need to be fighting. I don't want to be ruler of a place where I will have guards to protect me."

"You must know how to protect yourself," the sorcerer said. "Guards can be killed, as we've seen. You need to be prepared."

"I want to kill the princess," Mileena said. "I want her dead and I want to be pretty like her." She pulled off her mask. "How am I to be her if I am half Tarkatan?"

"I will make you like her," Shang Tsung promised. "But you have to prove your loyalty and obedience."

Mileena replaced her mask and bowed, though there was something mocking in the action. She turned and walked from the room.

"Perhaps we've made a mistake," Shang Tsung muttered. "Those Tarkatan warriors are unpredictable in their blood lust."


End file.
